20 Most Important Presidents of All Time

There have been many presidents throughout the United States of America’s short but prolific existence, and there have been several handfuls of these men who excelled at guiding the country into being the great and free nation that it is today. Spanning from different eras of the republic, these individuals all brought honor and integrity to the position of presidency in their own unique and varying ways. Let’s take a look at the top 20 most important presidents in U.S. history, in no particular order.

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1. Abraham Lincoln

Elected as the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln came to lead the nation during arguably its most trying years. As fomenting societal issues centering around slavery led to the eruption of the American Civil war in 1861, Lincoln led the nation politically and militarily over the course of the next 4 years until his tragic assassination in 1864. Among his legacies include his Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation, but perhaps his most important feat is that he laid the conditions for reuniting the Union, and for that we can grateful for the resolute 50 states we have today.